Mobile fluid transfer system

ABSTRACT

A mobile fluid transfer system. The system includes a fluid evacuation system, a fluid refill system, a sensing system and a control system. The fluid evacuation system comprises a first fluid storage container. The fluid refill system comprises a second fluid storage container. The sensing system is coupled to the fluid evacuation system and the fluid refill system. The control system is coupled to the sensing system, the fluid evacuation system and the fluid refill system. The control system is configured to determine an amount of a first fluid in the first fluid storage container based on a first signal from the sensing system, and determine an amount of a second fluid in the second fluid storage container based on a second signal from the sensing system.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of theearlier filing date of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.62/976,456 filed on Feb. 14, 2020, titled MOBILE FLUID TRANSFER SYSTEM,the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in theirentirety.

BACKGROUND

It is common to change the fluids of certain machines at locations whichare remote from a service or repair shop. In such instances, a truck ortrailer can be utilized to transport an assembly commonly known as alube skid to a remote location to change the fluids of one or moremachines. An example of such a lube skid is shown in FIG. 1. The lubeskid includes a first hose which can be connected to the sump of themachine, a first pump for drawing fluid from the machine, and a firsttank for holding the fluid drawn from the machine. The first hosetypically includes an inline flow meter so that a person operating thelube skid has an idea of how much fluid has been drawn from the machine.The lube skid also includes a second tank for holding fluid that is tobe used for refilling the machine, a second pump for drawing the fluidfrom the second tank, and a second hose for delivering the refill fluidto the machine. The second hose typically includes an inline flow meterso that a person operating the lube skid has an idea of how much refillfluid has been drawn from the second tank, and by extension, how muchrefill fluid has been added to the machine.

Due to the flow restrictions introduced by the flow meters of known lubeskids, the rate of the evacuation of fluid from the machine isrelatively slow and the rate of the refilling of new fluid to themachine is also relatively slow. Also, flow meters of know lube skidstypically have to be calibrated to the viscosity of the fluid flowingthrough them to be accurate. Thus, when such flow meters are to be usedfor a plurality of fluids, a different calibration is needed for eachdifferent fluid to be used in order for the flow meter to be accurate.Additionally, with many known lube skids, it is impossible to accuratelyknow at a given point in time precisely how much fluid drawn from themachine can still be added to the first tank or how much fluid is leftin the second tank for refilling the machine. Thus, it is difficult toknow for sure whether all of the evacuations and refills scheduled for agiven jobsite can be safely completed during the same visit, or evenwhether a complete evacuation and refill can be safely completed for agiven machine. Additionally, if the operator is not paying attention, itis very possible to overfill the first tank, thereby creating anoverflow event which can cause damage to the environment. Furthermore,known lube skids are essentially dumb devices in the sense that theyhave no means for acquiring, storing or processing data associated withthe evacuation and refill process, and cannot communicate with or beintegrated with an inventory management system or a work order system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The novel features of the aspects described herein are set forth withparticularity in the appended claims. The aspects, however, both as toorganization and methods of operation may be better understood byreference to the following description, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art lube skid;

FIG. 2 illustrates a mobile fluid transfer system in accordance with atleast one aspect of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates a fluid evacuation system of the mobile fluidtransfer system of FIG. 2 in accordance with at least one aspect of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates a fluid refill system of the mobile fluid transfersystem of FIG. 2 in accordance with at least one aspect of the presentdisclosure;

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate a rollover protection system of the mobilefluid transfer system of FIG. 2 in accordance with at least one aspectof the present disclosure;

FIG. 5C illustrates a check valve of the rollover protection system ofFIGS. 5A and 5B, in accordance with at least one aspect of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates a sensing system of the mobile fluid transfer systemof FIG. 2 in accordance with at least one aspect of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 6A illustrates a setup of a first sensing device of the sensingsystem of FIG. 6, in accordance with at least one aspect of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 7 illustrates a fluid heating system of the mobile fluid transfersystem of FIG. 2 in accordance with at least one aspect of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 8 illustrates a fluid containment system of the mobile fluidtransfer system of FIG. 2 in accordance with at least one aspect of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 9 illustrates a purge system of the mobile fluid transfer system ofFIG. 2 in accordance with at least one aspect of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 illustrates a control circuit of the mobile fluid transfersystem of FIG. 2 in accordance with at least one aspect of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 11 illustrates a management system, in accordance with at least oneaspect of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It is to be understood that at least some of the figures anddescriptions of the invention have been simplified to illustrateelements that are relevant for a clear understanding of the invention,while eliminating, for purposes of clarity, other elements that those ofordinary skill in the art will appreciate may also comprise a portion ofthe invention. However, because such elements are well known in the art,and because they do not facilitate a better understanding of theinvention, a description of such elements is not provided herein.

In the following detailed description, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings, which form a part hereof. In the drawings,similar symbols and reference characters typically identify similarcomponents throughout several views, unless context dictates otherwise.The illustrative aspects described in the detailed description, drawingsand claims are not meant to be limiting. Other aspects may be utilized,and other changes may be made, without departing from the scope of thetechnology described herein.

The following description of certain examples of the technology shouldnot be used to limit its scope. Other examples, features, aspects,embodiments and advantages of the technology will become apparent tothose skilled in the art from the following description, which is by wayof illustration, one of the best modes contemplated for carrying out thetechnology. As will be realized, the technology described herein iscapable of other different and obvious aspects, all without departingfrom the technology. Accordingly, the drawings and descriptions shouldbe regarded as illustrative in nature and not restrictive.

It is further understood that any one or more of the teachings,expressions, aspects, embodiments, examples, etc. described herein maybe combined with any one or more of the other teachings, expressions,aspects, embodiments, examples, etc. that are described herein. Thefollowing described teachings, expressions, aspects, embodiments,examples, etc. should therefore not be viewed in isolation relative toeach other. Various suitable ways in which the teachings herein may becombined will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artin view of the teachings herein. Such modifications and variations areintended to be included within the scope of the claims.

Before explaining the various aspects of the mobile fluid transfersystem in detail, it should be noted that the various aspects disclosedherein are not limited in their application or use to the details ofconstruction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings and description. Rather, the disclosed aspects may bepositioned or incorporated in other aspects, embodiments, variations andmodifications thereof, and may be practiced or carried out in variousways. Accordingly, aspects of the mobile fluid transfer system disclosedherein are illustrative in nature and are not meant to limit the scopeor application thereof. Furthermore, unless otherwise indicated, theterms and expressions employed herein have been chosen for the purposeof describing the aspects for the convenience of the reader and are notmeant to limit the scope thereof. In addition, it should be understoodthat any one or more of the disclosed aspects, expressions of aspects,and/or examples thereof, can be combined with any one or more of theother disclosed aspects, expressions of aspects, and/or examplesthereof, without limitation.

Also, in the following description, it is to be understood that termssuch as inward, outward, upward, downward, above, top, below, floor,left, right, side, interior, exterior and the like are words ofconvenience and are not to be construed as limiting terms. Terminologyused herein is not meant to be limiting insofar as devices describedherein, or portions thereof, may be attached or utilized in otherorientations. The various aspects will be described in more detail withreference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 illustrates a mobile fluid transfer system 10 in accordance withat least one aspect of the present disclosure. The mobile fluid transfersystem 10 is configured to be loaded onto a mobile platform such as, forexample, the bed of a wheeled vehicle, and/or positioned in an enclosedcargo area of the wheeled vehicle. The wheeled vehicle may be anysuitable wheeled vehicle such as, for example, a truck, a trailer, etc.According to various aspects, the mobile fluid transfer system 10 formsa portion of the mobile platform. Once the mobile fluid transfer system10 has been loaded and/or positioned onto the mobile platform, themobile fluid transfer system 10 can then be transported to a remote jobsite to be utilized for transferring one or more fluids to and from amachine. According to various aspects, the mobile fluid transfer system10 is equipped with forklift channels which allows for the mobile fluidtransfer system 10 to be loaded onto the bed of a wheeled vehicle with aforklift. According to other aspects, the mobile fluid transfer system10 is equipped with lifting lugs (eye bolts, hoist rings or the like)which allows for the mobile fluid transfer system 10 to be loaded ontothe bed of a wheeled vehicle with a crane or other similar machine. Themobile fluid transfer system 10 may be utilized with any number ofdifferent fluids and any number of different machines. For example,according to various aspects, the mobile fluid transfer system 10 may beutilized to remove engine oil from an earth moving machine (e.g., anexcavator, a high-lift, a bulldozer, etc.) and refill the earth movingmachine with clean, pre-filtered engine oil. Similarly, the mobile fluidtransfer system 10 may be utilized to remove and replace engine oil froma machine other than an earth moving machine. For example, the mobilefluid transfer system 10 may be utilized to remove and replace engineoil from a compactor, a generator, a truck, an automobile, an enginepowered apparatus and the like. According to other aspects, the mobilefluid transfer system 10 may be utilized to remove and replace a fluid(e.g., transmission fluid, hydraulic fluid, gear oil, steering fluid,etc.) other than engine oil from a machine. For purposes of simplicity,the mobile fluid transfer system 10 will be described hereinafter in thecontext of being employed to remove and refill engine oil of an earthmoving machine. However, it will be appreciated that the mobile fluidtransfer system 10 may be utilized with any number of different fluidsand any number of different machines.

The mobile fluid transfer system 10 includes a fluid evacuation system12, a fluid refill system 14, a sensing system 16 and a control circuit18. According to various aspects, the mobile fluid transfer system 10also includes a fluid heating system 20, a fluid containment system 22(See FIG. 7) and a purge system 24. According to various aspects, themobile fluid transfer system 10 further includes a power source 26 suchas, for example, a battery. According to other aspects, electrical powercan be provided to the mobile fluid transfer system 10 by the wheeledvehicle which transports the mobile fluid transfer system 10 to theremote job site, or by a machine being serviced by the mobile fluidtransfer system 10. Electrical power to operate the mobile fluidtransfer system 10 can be direct current (DC) power provided by thewheeled vehicle which transports the mobile fluid transfer system 10 tothe remote job site (e.g., from a battery of the wheeled vehicle),alternating current (AC) power from a machine being serviced by themobile fluid transfer system 10 (e.g., from an electrical outlet poweredby the machine), or direct current (DC) power from the power source 26.

FIG. 3 illustrates a fluid evacuation system 12 of the mobile fluidtransfer system 10 of FIG. 2 in accordance with at least one aspect ofthe present disclosure. The fluid evacuation system 12 includes a fluidstorage container 30 configured to store engine oil evacuated from theearth moving machine. The engine oil evacuated from the earth movingmachine may be referred to as waste oil. The fluid storage container 30may be of any suitable size and shape. For example, according to variousaspects, the fluid storage container 30 may be sized to hold 50 gallonsof waste oil, 75 gallons of waste oil, 100 gallons of waste oil, 150gallons of waste oil, etc., and may be configured in a cylindricalshape, a rectangular shape or a square shape. Although only one fluidstorage container 30 is shown in FIG. 3, it will be appreciated that thefluid evacuation system 12 may include any number of fluid storagecontainers 30, and the various fluid storage containers 30 can be ofdifferent sizes and different shapes.

The fluid evacuation system 12 also includes piping 32 (or hosing)coupled to an inlet of the fluid storage container 30, a shut-off valve34 coupled to the piping 32, hosing 36 coupled to the shut-off valve 34and a connector 38 (e.g., a quick fit connector) coupled to an end ofthe hosing 36. The shut-off valve 34 can be utilized to stop the flow ofwaste oil into the fluid storage container 30. According to variousaspects, the shut-off valve 34 is operated manually. According to otheraspects, the shut-off valve 34 is a solenoid valve which is controlledautomatically by the control circuit 18. For such aspects, the fluidevacuation system 12 is coupled to the control circuit 18. The hosing 36is wound on a hose reel (not shown) which is similar to the hose reelsshown in FIG. 8, and can be extended to reach the earth moving machineand/or a portable pump 40 (shown in dashed lines) which is positionedproximate the earth moving machine. The hosing 36 may be of any suitablelength and any suitable diameter. For example, according to variousaspects, the hosing 36 may be 50 feet in length, 75 feet in length or100 feet in length, and may have a diameter of ½″, ¾″ or 1″. Forinstances where the connector 38 is coupled to the portable pump 40, thepump is also coupled to the earth moving machine by hosing 42 which mayinclude a connector (e.g., a quick fit connector) which connects thehosing 42 to a valve assembly (e.g., a quick fit valve assembly) at theearth moving machine. By positioning the portable pump 40 proximate tothe earth moving machine, the distance the portable pump 40 has to suckthe engine oil from the earth moving machine (i.e., the distance of thesuction line) is reduced, thereby allowing for increased flowratesand/or efficiency associated with the fluid evacuation system 12. Theengine oil sucked to the portable pump 40 is then pushed to the fluidstorage container 30. According to various aspects, the portable pump 40and the hosing 42 are part of the fluid evacuation system 12. Byutilizing the portable pump 40 to apply a negative pressure to a valveassembly (e.g., a quick fit valve assembly) at the earth moving machine,the valve assembly operates to allow the waste oil to be evacuated fromthe earth moving machine, and the evacuated waste oil is subsequentlydelivered to the fluid storage container 30. According to variousaspects, the portable pump 40 may include a pressure relief valve whichis set to a pressure which is less than the working pressure of thehosing 36 and/or the hosing 42.

According to other aspects, in lieu of the portable pump 40 beingutilized, the fluid evacuation system 12 includes a pump (not shown)which is permanently positioned proximate to the fluid storage container30. For such instances, the connector 38 at the end of the hosing 36 maybe connected directly to a valve assembly (e.g. a quick fit valveassembly) which is connected directly to the earth moving machine.According to various aspects, the pump and/or the portable pump 40 maybe powered by direct current (DC) power, alternating current (AC) power,or air power (pneumatic) provided by the mobile fluid transfer system10, the wheeled vehicle which transports the mobile fluid transfersystem 10 to the remote job site, the machine being serviced by themobile fluid transfer system 10, or another external source. Forexample, according to some aspects, the pump and/or the portable pump 40is powered by direct current (DC) power from a battery of the wheeledvehicle. According to other aspects, the pump and/or the portable pump40 is powered by alternating current (AC) power from an electricaloutlet powered by a machine being serviced by the mobile fluid transfersystem 10. According to yet other aspects, the pump and/or the portablepump 40 is powered by direct current (DC) power from the power source26. According to yet other aspects, the pump and/or the portable pump ispneumatically powered from an external source.

According to various aspects, the control circuit 18 is configured toprovide certain safeguards for the operation of the fluid evacuationsystem 12. For example, the control circuit 18 is configured to verifythe shut-off valve 34 is open before energizing the portable pump 40with DC power. If the control circuit 18 determines the valve 34 isclosed and the fluid storage container 30 is not full (as described inmore detail hereinbelow), the control circuit 18 will open the valve 34and energize the portable pump 40 to allow for the evacuation of thewaste oil from the earth moving machine. However, if the control circuit18 determines the valve 34 is closed and the fluid storage container 30is full (as described in more detail hereinbelow), the control circuit18 will not oven the valve 34 and will not energize the portable pump 40to allow for the evacuation of the waste oil from the earth movingmachine.

FIG. 4 illustrates a fluid refill system 14 of the mobile fluid transfersystem 10 of FIG. 2 in accordance with at least one aspect of thepresent disclosure. The fluid refill system 14 includes a fluid storagecontainer 50 configured to store clean, filtered engine oil which can beutilized to refill the earth moving machine with engine oil. The clean,filtered engine oil stored in the fluid storage container 50 may bereferred to as new oil. The fluid storage container 50 may be of anysuitable size and shape. For example, according to various aspects, thefluid storage container 50 may be sized to hold 50 gallons of new oil,75 gallons of new oil, 100 gallons of new oil, 150 gallons of new oil,etc., and may be configured in a cylindrical shape, a rectangular shapeor a square shape. Although only one fluid storage container 50 is shownin FIG. 4, it will be appreciated that the fluid refill system 14 mayinclude any number of fluid storage containers 50, and the various fluidstorage containers 50 can be of different sizes and different shapes.

The fluid refill system 14 also includes piping 52 (or hosing) coupledto an outlet of the fluid storage container 50, a shut-off valve 54coupled to the piping 52, piping 56 (or hosing) coupled to the shut-offvalve 54, a pump 58 having an inlet coupled to the piping 56, hosing 60coupled to an outlet of the pump 58, and a connector 62 (e.g., a quickfit connector) coupled to an end of the hosing 60. The shut-off valve 54can be utilized to stop the flow of new oil to the earth moving machine.According to various aspects, the shut-off valve 54 is operatedmanually. According to other aspects, the shut-off valve 54 is asolenoid valve which is controlled automatically by the control circuit18. For such aspects, the fluid refill system 14 is coupled to thecontrol circuit 18. The hosing 60 is wound on a hose reel (not shown)which is similar to the hose reels shown in FIG. 8, and can be extendedto reach the earth moving machine. The hosing 60 may be of any suitablelength and any suitable diameter. For example, according to variousaspects, the hosing 60 may be 50 feet in length, 75 feet in length or100 feet in length, and may have a diameter of ½″, ¾″ or 1″. Theconnector 62 at the end of the hosing 60 may be connected directly to avalve assembly (e.g., a quick fit valve assembly) which is connecteddirectly to the earth moving machine. By utilizing the pump 58 to applya positive pressure to the valve assembly, the valve assembly operatesto allow the new oil from the fluid storage container 50 to be deliveredto the earth moving machine.

According to various aspects, the pump 58 may be powered by directcurrent (DC) power, alternating current (AC) power, or air power(pneumatic) provided by the mobile fluid transfer system 10, the wheeledvehicle which transports the mobile fluid transfer system 10 to theremote job site, the machine being serviced by the mobile fluid transfersystem 10, or another external source. For example, according to variousaspects, the pump 58 is powered by direct current (DC) power from abattery of the wheeled vehicle. According to other aspects, the pump 58is powered by alternating current (AC) power from an electrical outletpowered by a machine being serviced by the mobile fluid transfer system10. According to yet other aspects, the pump 58 is powered by directcurrent (DC) power from the power source 26. According to yet otheraspects, the pump 58 is pneumatically powered from an external source.

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate a rollover protection system 70 of the mobilefluid transfer system 10 of FIG. 2 in accordance with at least oneaspect of the present disclosure. Each of the fluid storage containers30, 50 may be equipped with its own rollover protection system 70. Therollover protection system 70 is configured to keep the fluids insidethe fluid storage containers 30, 50 if the mobile fluid transfer system10 were to be overturned, either on its side (90° protection), upsidedown (180° protection) or a position inbetween. For purposes ofsimplicity, the rollover protection system 70 will be described in thecontext of its applicability to the fluid storage container 50. However,it will be appreciated that the following description of the rolloverprotection system 70 is equally applicable to the fluid storagecontainer 30. As shown in FIG. 5A, an air vent 72 of the fluid storagecontainer 50 can include a filter 74 and a check valve 76 incorporatedtherein. The air vent 72 is configured to allow air within the fluidstorage container 50 to flow through the air vent 72 to the outside ofthe fluid storage container 50. Similarly, air outside of the fluidstorage container 50 can flow through the air vent 72 to the inside ofthe fluid storage container 50. Because the air vent 72 is configured tofacilitate airflow to and from the fluid storage container 50, the airvent 72 can be further configured to prevent the introduction ofexternal contaminants to the clean, pre-filtered fluid in the fluidstorage container 50. Although only one air vent 72 is shown in FIGS. 5Aand 5B, it will be appreciated that the fluid storage container 50 mayinclude more than one air vent 72, and the fluid storage container 30may include more than one air vent 72.

According to various aspects, the filter 74 includes a sintered brassmedium which defines a plurality of openings which the air passesthrough when entering or exiting the fluid storage container 50. Theplurality of openings can be of any suitable size. For example,according to various aspects, the size of one or more of the openingscan be as small as 2 microns. According to other aspects, the size ofthe one or more of the openings can be as large as 40 microns. Accordingto yet other aspects, the openings can be sized to prevent particulatelarger than 10 microns from passing through the openings. Thus, thefilter 74 can be utilized to prevent certain pollutants from reachingthe interior of the fluid storage container 50, as well as to preventthe fluids within the fluid storage containers 50, 70 from spilling outfrom the fluid storage containers 50, 70, through the air vent 72 and tothe outside of the fluid storage containers 30, 50 whenever the wheeledvehicle which transports the mobile fluid transfer system 10 issubjected to bumps in the road or certain other road/jobsite conditions.According to other aspects, the filter 74 may include a material otherthan sintered brass (e.g., a sintered bronze medium, a sintered nickelmedium, a nickel material, an aluminum material, etc.).

According to various aspects, the check valve 76 may be placed directlyin a vent location of the fluid storage container 50 or in a locationremote from the fluid storage container 50, where the remote location isattached to the vent location with hosing/piping. The check valve 76 isconfigured to allow air to flow into and out of the fluid storagecontainer 50 when the fluid storage container 50 is in an “upright”position. The check valve 76 is also configured to transition between anunbiased position (See FIG. 5A) and a biased position (See FIG. 5B).According to various aspects, the check valve 76 includes a ball 78 anda biasing element 80 such as, for example, a spring. When the fluidstorage container 50 is in its normal upright position, the ball 78exerts a downward force on the biasing element 80 such that the biasingelement 80 is in a compressed condition. The ball 78 rests on top of thecompressed biasing element 80, and the position of the ball 78 as shownin FIG. 5A allows air to flow into or out of the fluid storage container50. Stated differently, the position of the ball 78 does not operate toblock air from entering or exiting the fluid storage container 50.However, when the fluid storage container 50 is positioned sideways orupside down (i.e., due to the mobile fluid transfer system 10 beingturning on its side or upside down), the downward force exerted by theball 78 on the biasing member 80 is decreased or eliminated such thatthe biasing element 80 is able to overcome any downward force exerted bythe ball 78 and extend to a less compressed condition. The extension ofthe biasing member 80 to the less compressed condition causes the ball78 to be moved to the position as shown in FIG. 5B, where the ball 78 isset against the tapered wall 82 of the air vent 72. In this position,the ball 78 operates to block any fluid within the fluid storagecontainer 50 from exiting the fluid storage container 50 via the airvent 72, as well as any air from entering or exiting the fluid storagecontainer 50.

Although the check valve 76 is described above as including a ball andseat configuration, according to other aspects, alternate configurationssuch as a swing, lift, dual plate, and/or stop check type configurationsare also contemplated by the present disclosure. According to suchaspects, the check valve 76 may include components such as swing hinges,a duck bills, dual plates, and discs to accomplish the same effect.Additionally, according to yet other aspects, the rollover protectionsystem 70 may include an actuator which is utilized to transition thecheck valve 76 between a biased position and an unbiased position, andvice versa. For such aspects, the actuator may be controlled by thecontrol circuit 18 in response to a signal output by a sensing devicewhich is configured to measure an orientation of the mobile fluidtransfer system 10 and/or the fluid storage container 50.

FIG. 5C illustrates the check valve 76 of the rollover protection system70, in accordance with at least one aspect of the present disclosure. Asshown in FIG. 5C, the check valve 76 is positioned in a location remotefrom the fluid storage container 50, and is connected to an air vent 72on each side of the fluid storage container 50 via hosing/piping 84.This arrangement allows for fluid/air to balance out in instances wherethe fluid storage container 50 is situated at an angle relative to itsstandard “level-to-the-ground” orientation. It will be appreciated thatthe features illustrated and described with reference to FIG. 5C areequally applicable to the fluid storage container 30.

FIG. 6 illustrates a sensing system 16 of the mobile fluid transfersystem 10 of FIG. 2 in accordance with at least one aspect of thepresent disclosure. The sensing system 16 is coupled to the fluidevacuation system 12, to the fluid refill system 14 and to the controlcircuit 18. According to various aspects, the sensing system 16 is alsocoupled to the power source 26. According to various aspects, thesensing system 16 is coupled to the fluid evacuation system 12, to thefluid refill system 14 and/or to the control circuit 18 via hard wires.According to other aspects, one or more portions of the sensing system16 are wirelessly coupled to the fluid evacuation system 12, to thefluid refill system 14 and/or to the control circuit 18. The sensingsystem 16 includes a plurality of different sensing devices. Accordingto various aspects, the sensing system 16 includes a first sensingdevice 90 and a second sensing device 92. The first sensing device 90may be positioned at the “top” of the fluid storage container 30 and isconfigured to measure a level/height of the waste oil in the fluidstorage container 30. The sensing system 16 may include a separate firstsensing device 90 for each fluid storage container 30 of the fluidevacuation system 12. The second sensing device 92 may be positioned atthe “top” of the fluid storage container 50 and is configured to measurea level/height of the new oil in the fluid storage container 50. Thesensing system 16 may include a separate second sensing device 92 foreach fluid storage container 50 of the fluid refill system 14. Accordingto various aspects, the first sensing device 90 forms a portion of thefluid evacuation system 12 and the second sensing device 92 forms aportion of the fluid refill system 14.

According to various aspects, the first and/or second sensing devices90, 92 may be implemented as an ultrasonic device, a laser device, aradar device, a magnetorestrictive device, a pressure transducer and thelike. According to other aspects, the first and/or second sensingdevices 90, 92 may be implemented as a mechanical sensing device. For anultrasonic device, the time it takes for an ultrasound pulse to travelfrom a transducer to the surface of the waste oil (or from a transducerto the surface of the new oil) and back to the transducer can beutilized to determine the volume of the oil in a given fluid storagedevice 30, 50. For a laser device, the time it takes for a pulse oflight to travel from a transmitter to the surface of the waste oil (orfrom a transducer to the surface of the new oil) and back to thetransmitter can be utilized to determine the volume of the oil in agiven fluid storage device 30, 50. For a radar device, the time it takesfor a microwave to travel from an antenna to the surface of the wasteoil (or from a transducer to the surface of the new oil) and back to theantenna can be utilized to determine the volume of the oil in a givenfluid storage device 30, 50. By knowing the pre-determined shapes (e.g.,cylindrical, rectangular, square) of the respective fluid storagecontainers 30, 50 and by knowing the level/height of the fluid withinthe respective fluid storage containers 30, 50, the precise volumes ofthe fluids within the respective fluid storage containers 30, 50 can bereadily determined by the control circuit 18 in real time (or in nearreal time) as explained in more detail hereinbelow. By utilizing thefirst and second sensing devices 90, 92 in lieu of the flow metersutilized by known mobile fluid transfer systems, the flow restrictionsintroduced by the flow meters are eliminated, thereby allowing the fluidevacuation system 12 and the fluid refill system 14 to transport thewaste oil and the new oil at a faster rate (e.g., 15-20 gallons perminute) than the 4-5 gallons per minute realized by known mobile fluidtransfer systems. According to other aspects, the first and/or secondsensing devices 90, 92 may be implemented by sensing devices other thanultrasonic devices, laser devices, radar devices, magnetorestrictivedevices or pressure transducers. According to various aspects, themobile fluid transfer system 10 may also include a mechanical floatvalve for the fluid storage container 30 and a mechanical float valvefor the fluid storage container 50 to provide redundancy for the firstand second sensing devices 90, 92.

According to various aspects, the first and second sensing devices 90,92 are setup to help define the usable capacity of the fluid storagecontainers 30, 50. The usable capacity of the fluid storage container 30may be considered to be the total volume inside the fluid storagecontainer 30, minus a residual fluid volume at the bottom of the fluidstorage container 30, minus an air gap volume at the top of the fluidstorage container 30. A top of the residual fluid volume is set to afirst predetermined height (a zero level) above the floor/bottom of thefluid storage container 30 and a bottom of the air gap volume is set toa second predetermined height (a full level) above the floor/bottom ofthe fluid storage container 30. The air gap volume operates to minimizespillage coming up through the air vent 72 as the motion of the mobileplatform (e.g., going around corners, stopping or starting quickly,etc.) causes the fluid in the fluid storage container 30 to slosh. Theusable capacity of the fluid storage containers 50 may be determined inthe same manner.

FIG. 6A illustrates a setup of the first sensing device 90, inaccordance with at least one aspect of the present disclosure. Based onthe time of flight data (e.g., the time it takes for an ultrasound pulseto travel from a transducer to the surface of the fluid in the fluidstorage container 30 and back to the transducer), the first sensingdevice 90 is configured to output a signal indicative of the height ofthe fluid in the fluid storage container 30. As shown in FIG. 6A, thesignal can be in units of milliamperes (e.g., 4-20 milliamperes).According to other aspects, the signal can be in in units of volts(e.g., 0-10 volts). For aspects where the first sensing device 90 is a4-20 milliampere sensing device, the zero level in the fluid storagecompartment 30 is set based on the height in the fluid storage container30 where the first sensing device 90 outputs a 4 milliampere signalresponsive to the time of flight data, and the full level in the fluidstorage compartment 30 is set based on the height in the fluid storagecompartment 30 where the first sensing device 90 outputs a 19milliampere signal responsive to the time of flight data. The controlcircuit 18 is configured to plot the zero level height (i.e., the 4milliampere signal) and the full level height (i.e., the 19 milliamperesignal), then use the straight line equation y=mx+b to extrapolaterespective heights of fluid in the fluid storage container 30 associatedwith respective signals between 4 milliamperes and 19 milliamperesoutput by the first sensing device 90. For example, a signal of 11.5milliamperes would be associated with a height being located equidistantfrom the zero level and the full level. Based on a given heightassociated with a given output signal of the first sensing device 90,and the known length and width of the fluid storage container 30, thecontrol circuit 18 is configured to calculate the volume of “waste oil”present in the fluid storage container 30. According to other aspects,the control circuit 18 may utilize a lookup table to determine thevolume of “waste oil” present in the fluid storage container 30 based ona given height associated with a given output signal of the firstsensing device 90. The second sensing device 92 may be setup in the samemanner as described above for the fluid storage container 50. With theabove-described setup, fluid viscosity calibration of the sensingdevices 90, 92 is not needed and the sensing devices 90, 92 providegreater accuracy across a wide range of fluids than the flow meters ofknown lube skids. In view of the above-described functionality of thefirst and second sensing devices 90, 92, it will be appreciated that theoutputs of the first and second sensing devices 90, 92 may be utilizedby the control circuit 18 to prevent the fluid storage containers 30, 50from being overfilled.

Returning to FIG. 6, according to various aspects, the sensing system 16further includes a third sensing device 94 and a fourth sensing device96. The third sensing device 94 is configured to output a signal whenthe level of the fluid in the fluid storage container 30 has reached orexceeded a predetermined threshold. Similarly, the fourth sensing device96 is configured to output a signal when the level of the fluid in thefluid storage container 50 has reached or exceeded a predeterminedthreshold. The predetermined threshold for the fluid level in the fluidstorage container 30 can be the same as or different from thepredetermined threshold for the fluid level in the fluid storagecontainer 50. As explained in more detail hereinbelow, responsive to theoutput signals of the third and/or fourth sensing devices 94, 96, thecontrol circuit 18 can initiate an audible alarm via a speaker of themobile fluid transfer system 10 and/or a visual alarm via an indicator(e.g., a light emitting diode) or via a display of the mobile fluidtransfer system 10, as well as disconnect electrical power to thesupplemental pump 40 and/or the pump 58. Although the control circuit 18can also be configured to initiate the audible alarm, the visual alarmand/or disconnect electrical power to the supplemental pump 40 and/orthe pump 58 based on the signals output by the first and second sensingdevices 90, 92 (which indicate the levels of the fluids in the fluidstorage containers 30, 50), the third and fourth sensing devices 94, 96offer a level of redundancy to help mitigate the chance of anyinadvertent overfilling of the fluid storage containers 30, 50.According to various aspects, the third sensing device 94 forms aportion of the fluid evacuation system 12 and the fourth sensing device96 forms a portion of the fluid refill system 14. In view of theabove-described functionality of the third and fourth sensing devices94, 96, it will be appreciated that the outputs of the third and fourthsensing devices 94, 96 may be utilized by the control circuit 18 toprevent the fluid storage containers 30, 50 from being overfilled.

According to other aspects, the functionality of the third and fourthsensing devices 94, 96 may be performed by the first and second sensingdevices 90, 92. For example, any signals output by the first or secondsensing devices 90, 92 which are greater than 19 milliamperes can beinterpreted by the control circuit 18 as the fluid in the fluid storagecontainers 30, 50 having reached or exceeded the predeterminedthreshold, with the control circuit 18 then taking the above-describedactions in response thereto.

According to various aspects, the sensing system 16 also includes afifth sensing device 98. The fifth sensing device 98 is configured tomeasure an orientation of the mobile fluid transfer system 10 (e.g.,relative to the normal upright position of the mobile fluid transfersystem 10), and by extension, an orientation of the fluid storagecontainers 30, 50. Alternatively, the sensing system 16 may include twoor more fifth sensing devices 98 (e.g., one for measuring theorientation of the fluid storage container 30 and another one formeasuring the orientation of the fluid storage container 50). The fifthsensing device 98 is further configured to output a signal indicative ofthe orientation of the mobile fluid transfer system 10, of the fluidstorage container 30 and/or of the fluid storage container 50. Asexplained hereinabove, the control circuit 18 may control an actuationmember of the rollover protection system 70 based on the signal outputby the fifth sensing device 98. According to various aspects, responsiveto the output signal of the fifth sensing device 98, the control circuit18 can initiate an audible alarm via a speaker of the mobile fluidtransfer system 10 and/or a visual alarm via an indicator (e.g., a lightemitting diode) or via a display of the mobile fluid transfer system 10,as well as disconnect electrical power to the supplemental pump 40and/or the pump 58. According to various aspects, the control circuit 18may also close the shutoff valve 34 and/or the shutoff valve 54 if anyof these valves are open when the output signal of the fifth sensingdevice 98 is indicative of a rollover event. According to variousaspects, the fifth sensing device 98 forms a portion of the fluidevacuation system 12 and/or a portion of the fluid refill system 14.

According to various aspects, the sensing system 16 also includes asixth sensing device 100. The sixth sensing device 100 is configured todetect a presence of a fluid which is proximate to a floor of the fluidcontainment system 22 (See FIG. 8) and is external to the fluid storagecontainers 30, 50. As explained in more detail hereinbelow, the fluidcontainment system 22 surrounds the fluid storage containers 30, 50. Thepresence of a fluid at this location is indicative of a fluid leak or anoverflow situation associated with the fluid storage container 30 and/orthe fluid storage container 50. The sixth sensing device 100 is alsoconfigured to output a signal indicative of the presence of the fluid.According to various aspects, responsive to the output signal of thesixth sensing device 100, the control circuit 18 can initiate an audiblealarm via a speaker of the mobile fluid transfer system 10 and/or avisual alarm via an indicator (e.g., a light emitting diode) or via adisplay of the mobile fluid transfer system 10, as well as disconnectelectrical power to the supplemental pump 40 and/or the pump 58.

According to various aspects, the sensing system 16 further includes aseventh sensing device 102 and an eighth sensing device 104. The seventhsensing device 102 may be positioned either on a “side” of the fluidstorage container 30 or within the fluid storage container 30, and isconfigured to measure a temperature of the fluid in a given zone of thefluid storage container 30. The seventh sensing device 102 is furtherconfigured to output a signal which is representative of a temperatureof the waste oil in the given zone of the fluid storage container 30.Similarly, the eighth sensing device 104 may be positioned either on a“side” of the fluid storage container 50 or within the fluid storagecontainer 50, and is configured to measure a temperature of the fluid ina given zone of the fluid storage container 50. The eighth sensingdevice 104 is further configured to output a signal which isrepresentative of a temperature of the new oil in the given zone of thefluid storage container 50. As explained in more detail hereinbelow, thesignals output by the seventh and eighth sensing devices 102, 104 may beutilized by the control circuit 18 to control heating of the waste oilin the fluid storage container 30 and/or the new oil in the fluidstorage container 50. According to various aspects, the seventh sensingdevice 102 forms a portion of the fluid evacuation system 12 and theeighth sensing device 104 forms a portion of the fluid refill system 14.

According to various aspects, the sensing system 16 may also include oneor more sensing devices 106 which are collectively utilized to determineparameters associated with the waste oil. Such parameters are associatedwith a quality/condition of the waste oil and can include, for example,degradation, contamination (e.g., fuel, coolant), acidity, watercontent, dilution, antioxidant depletion, metallic content, debris,soot, temperature, viscosity, particle count and the like. According tovarious aspects, the waste oil can be analyzed in real time or in nearreal time while in route from the machine to the fluid storage container30. For such aspects, the one or more sensing devices 106 measurevarious properties of the oil (e.g., dielectric constant, inductivecharacteristics, optical properties, spectrographic characteristics,magnetic properties, etc.) and output signals indicative of themeasurements. According to other aspects, the waste oil can be capturedand isolated while in route from the machine to the fluid storagecontainer 30, and the captured waste oil can be similarly analyzedexternally to the mobile fluid transfer system 10. The control circuit18 utilizes the output signals of the one or more sensing devices 106 todetermine the parameters associated with the waste oil. According tovarious aspects, the one or more sensing devices 106 form a portion ofthe fluid evacuation system 12.

FIG. 7 illustrates a fluid heating system 20 of the mobile fluidtransfer system 10 of FIG. 2 in accordance with at least one aspect ofthe present disclosure. The fluid heating system 20 comprises a heatingdevice 110 and a heating device 112. The heating device 110 ispositioned within the fluid storage container 30 and is utilized to heatthe fluid of a given zone of the fluid storage container 30 to apredetermined temperature. Similarly, the heating device 112 ispositioned within the fluid storage container 50 and is utilized to heatthe fluid of a given zone of the fluid storage container 50 to apredetermined temperature. According to various aspects, one of theheating device 110 and the heating device 112 may operate to heat thefluid of a given zone of the fluid storage container 30 as well as thefluid of a given zone of the fluid storage container 50 to apredetermined temperature. The predetermined temperature associated withthe heating device 110 can be the same as or different from thepredetermined temperature associated with the heating device 112.According to various aspects, the heating devices 110, 112 are resistiveheating elements, and the electrical power provided to the heatingdevices 110, 112 is controlled by the control circuit 18 based onsignals output by the seventh and eighth sensing devices 102, 104 tomaintain predetermined temperature levels within the given zones of thefluid storage containers 30, 50. For instances where heating is neededto achieve sufficient flow of the fluids, by only heating respectivezones of the fluid storage containers 30, 50, the entirety of the fluidsin the fluid storage containers 30, 50 are only partially heated (all ofthe fluid isn't necessarily heated to the predetermined temperature).This can allow for the flow of the fluids to be realized faster thanwould otherwise be possible. Electrical power to the first and secondheating devices 102, 104 can be provided by the power source 26, by thewheeled vehicle which transports the mobile fluid transfer system 10 tothe remote job site, from a machine being serviced by the mobile fluidtransfer system 10, or from an AC power source which is external to themobile fluid transfer system 10. According to other aspects, the heatingdevices 110, 112 are flow type heaters which utilize an enclosedcirculating liquid to heat the fluid of a given zone of the fluidstorage container 30 as well as the fluid of a given zone of the fluidstorage container 50 to a predetermined temperature.

According to various aspects, the heating devices 110, 112 includesensing devices which measure the temperature of the heating elements ofthe heating devices 110, 112. For such aspects, the seventh and eighthsensing devices 102, 104 are utilized to determine the temperatures ofthe respective fluids in the fluid storage containers 30, 50. If thetemperature of fluid in the fluid storage container 30 is below apre-determined threshold, the control circuit 18 turns on the heatingdevice 110. Similarly, if the temperature of fluid in the fluid storagecontainer 50 is below the pre-determined threshold, the control circuit18 turns on the heating device 112. The pre-determined threshold for thefluid in the fluid storage container 30 can be the same as or differentfrom the pre-determined threshold for the fluid in the fluid storagecontainer 50. The control circuit 18 also monitors the temperature ofthe heating elements of the heating devices 110, 112, and when atemperature of a heating element reaches a pre-determined upperthreshold, the control circuit 18 shuts off the heating device 110, 112associated with the heating element. The pre-determined upper thresholdfor the heating element of the heating device 110 can be the same as ordifferent from the pre-determined upper threshold for the heatingelement for the heating device 112. As the heating element cools, thecontrol circuit 18 continues the monitoring and when the temperature ofthe heating element hits a pre-determined lower threshold, the controlcircuit 18 turns the heating device 110, 112 associated with the heatingelement back on. The pre-determined lower threshold for the heatingelement of the heating device 110 can be the same as or different fromthe pre-determined lower threshold for the heating element of theheating device 112. The above-described process continues until thefluid temperatures measured by the seventh and eighth sensing devices102, 104 reach their respective pre-determined thresholds, a temperatureat which fluids no longer need to be heated.

FIG. 8 illustrates a fluid containment system 22 of the mobile fluidtransfer system 10 of FIG. 2 in accordance with at least one aspect ofthe present disclosure. The fluid containment system 22 surrounds thefluid storage containers 30, 50 and may be of any suitable size andshape. For example, according to various aspects, the fluid containmentsystem 22 is sized to be able to hold at least 100% of the combinedcapacity of the fluid storage containers 30, 50. According to otheraspects, the fluid containment system 22 is sized to be able to hold upto 120% (e.g., 105%, 110%, 115%, etc.) of the combined capacity of thefluid storage containers 30, 50. Stated differently, for this example,if the combined capacity of the fluid storage container 30 and the fluidstorage container 50 is 100 gallons, the fluid containment system 22 maybe sized to hold up to 120 gallons of fluid. In this manner, even ifboth of the fluid storage containers 30, 50 were to fail, the fluidcontainment system 22 could safely hold all of the fluid from thestorage containers plus 20 gallons of any additional fluid (e.g.,rainwater). According to yet other aspects, the fluid containment system22 is sized to be able to hold more than 120% (e.g., 125%, 130%, 140%,150%) of the combined capacity of the fluid storage containers 30, 50.

According to other aspects, the fluid containment system 22 may beconfigured to hold at least 100% of the individual capacity of the fluidstorage container 30 or the fluid storage container 50, whichever isgreater. When the mobile fluid transfer system 10 arrives at the firstremote job site of a given day, the fluid storage container 50 holds acertain amount of fluid (e.g., new oil) and the fluid storage container30 may be empty or nearly empty. As the first machine is serviced, thefluid evacuation system 12 operates to evacuate a fluid (e.g., wasteoil) from the machine and deliver the evacuated fluid into the fluidstorage container 30, thereby increasing the amount of fluid in thefluid storage container 30. Once the evacuation process is completed,the fluid refill system 14 may then be operated to deliver the fluid(e.g., new oil) from the fluid storage container 50 to the machine,thereby decreasing the amount of fluid in the fluid storage container50. For instances where the amount of fluid delivered from the fluidstorage container 50 to the machine is the same as the amount of fluidevacuated from the machine and delivered into the fluid storagecontainer 30, the combined amount of the fluids in the fluid storagecontainers 30, 50 is the same at the end of the service operation as itwas at the beginning of the service operation. This process may berepeated for any number of machines being serviced such that when themobile fluid transfer system 10 leaves the first remote job site, thecombined amount of the fluids in the fluid storage containers 30, 50 isthe same as it was when the mobile fluid transfer system 10 arrived atthe first remote job site. For these aspects, the fluid containmentsystem 22 is able to safely hold at least 100% of the sum of the fluidsfrom the storage container 30 and the storage container 50 while themobile fluid storage system 10 is in transit. According to otheraspects, the fluid containment system 22 is sized to be able to hold upto 120% (e.g., 105%, 110%, 115%, etc.) of the individual capacity of thefluid storage container 30 or the fluid storage container 50, whicheveris greater, thereby providing a safety factor in case there are anyadditional fluid or fluids other than the waste oil or the new oilpresent in the fluid storage containers 30, 50. According to yet otheraspects, the fluid containment system 22 is sized to be able to holdmore than 120% (e.g., 125%, 130%, 140%, 150%) of the individual capacityof the fluid storage container 30 or the fluid storage container 50,whichever is greater.

For the aspect shown in FIG. 8, the fluid containment system 22 isrectangular shaped and includes a bottom or floor (not visible), fourside walls 120 (left side, right side, front and rear) and a movable top122. The bottom/floor, the four side walls 120 and the movable top 122may be fabricated from any suitable material. For example, according tovarious aspects, at least one of the bottom/floor, the four side walls120 and the movable top 122 is fabricated from steel (e.g., platesteel). According to other aspects, at least one of the bottom/floor,the four side walls 120 and the movable top 122 is fabricated from analuminum. According to various aspects, the fluid containment system 22utilizes a floor of the mobile fluid transfer system 10 as thebottom/floor of the fluid containment system 22. According to otheraspects, the bottom/floor of the fluid containment system 22 is separatefrom and above the floor of the mobile fluid transfer system 10. Thefour side walls 120 are coupled to the bottom/floor of the fluidcontainment system 22 and to their adjacent side walls 120 in a manner(e.g., welded) which provides a “watertight” seal such that any fluidwhich is in contact with the bottom/floor of the fluid containmentsystem 22 and the four side walls 120 (up to a certain height) isprevented from leaking out of the fluid containment system 22 (as longas the mobile fluid transfer system 10 is in the “upright” position).The movable top 102 can be lifted off (either partially via hinges orfully) to provide access to the internal volume of the fluid containmentsystem 22.

In addition to surrounding the fluid storage containers 30, 50, thefluid containment system 22 also surrounds other portions of the fluidevacuation system 12 (e.g., the piping 32, the air vent 72, the firstsensing device 90, the third sensing device 94, the fifth sensing device98, the seventh sensing device 102 and the one or more sensing devices106) and other portions of the fluid refill system 14 (e.g., the piping52, the air vent 72, the second sensing device 92, the fourth sensingdevice 96, the fifth sensing device 98, and the eighth sensing device104). The fluid containment system 22 also surrounds portions of thecontrol circuit 18, including power wiring and control wiring.

According to various aspects, the fluid containment system 22 alsoincludes an insulative material and/or a fire retardant material whichsurrounds the fuel storage containers 30, 50. The insulative materialprovides a temperature buffer which helps to retain heat within theinteriors of the fluid storage containers 30, 50. The fire retardantmaterial provides fire suppression, and operates as a barrier to keepheat and/or flames external to the fluid storage containers 30, 50 fromintroducing heat and/or damage to the interior of the fluid storagecontainers 30, 50, thereby reducing the possibility of such externalheat damaging or compromising the interiors of the fluid storagecontainers 30, 50.

According to other aspects of the fluid containment system 22, any ofthe bottom/floor, the side walls 120 and the top 122 may bedouble-walled, the top 122 may be fixed in place in lieu of beingmovable, and the shape of the fluid containment system 22 may be a shapeother than rectangular. For example, the fluid containment system 22 mayinclude at least one curved surface.

As also shown in FIG. 8, according to various aspects, the mobile fluidtransfer system 10 may further comprise a filter storage compartment124. The filter storage compartment 124 may be utilized to store filterswhich have been removed from various machines during service operations.The filter storage compartment 124 may be constructed in a mannersimilar to the fluid containment system 22, and may be waterproof up toa certain height of the filter storage compartment 124. The filterstorage compartment 124 provides a convenient location to store theremoved filters (and any debris/oil still in the filters) so as to avoidany unintended environmental issues associated with the removed filters.The filters can be subsequently removed and properly processed fordisposal at a later point in time (e.g., when the mobile fluid transfersystem 10 arrives at a service station, a repair shop or back at a homebase). According to various aspects, the filter storage compartment 124includes plug which allows for the fluid storage compartment 124 to bemanually drained of any fluids. According to other aspects, the mobilefluid transfer system 10 may be configured to evacuate fluid from thefilter storage compartment 124 and deliver the evacuated fluid into thefluid storage container 30.

FIG. 9 illustrates a purge system 24 of the mobile fluid transfer system10 of FIG. 2 in accordance with at least one aspect of the presentdisclosure. According to various aspects, the purge system 24 includes asource 130 of a pressurized purging agent (e.g., air or nitrogen), ashut-off valve 132, hosing 134 connected to the shut-off valve 132, anda fitting 136 (e.g., a quick connect fitting) coupled to an end of thehosing 134. The shut-off valve 132 can be utilized to stop the flow ofthe purging agent to the earth moving machine. According to variousaspects, the shut-off valve 132 is operated manually. According to otheraspects, the shut-off valve 132 is a solenoid valve which is controlledautomatically by the control circuit 18. For such aspects, the purgesystem 24 is coupled to the control circuit 18. The hosing 134 is woundon a hose reel (not shown) which is similar to the hose reels shown inFIG. 8, is wound in a manner similar to the hosing 36 of the fluidevacuation system 12 and the hosing 60 of the fluid refill system 14,and can be extended to reach the earth moving machine. The hosing 134may be of any suitable length and any suitable diameter. For example,according to various aspects, the hosing 134 may be 50 feet in length,75 feet in length or 100 feet in length, and may have a diameter of ⅜″,½″, ⅝″ or ¾″. The fitting 136 may be coupled directly to a valveassembly (e.g., a quick fit valve assembly) which is connected directlyto the earth moving machine. By utilizing the source 130 of thepressurized purging agent to apply a positive pressure to the valveassembly, the valve assembly operates to allow the pressurized purgingagent to be delivered to the earth moving machine, where the pressurizedpurging agent acts to dislodge and remove any trapped particulate or oilfrom the filter (or filters) of the earth moving machine, therebyallowing for the dislodged particulate or oil to be subsequently removedfrom the machine during an evacuation process. The use of the purgesystem 24 also operates to lower the temperature of the filter. Forinstances where the filter is to be removed and replaced, the filter tobe removed is at a lower temperature and contains less liquid waste as aresult of the purging, thereby mitigating the risk of burns and oilspills which can occur during the removal of the filter. For instanceswhere the filter is a reuseable filter, the purging returns thereuseable filter (or filters) to a like-new condition. When the purgesystem 24 is utilized in conjunction with the fluid evacuation system 12and the fluid refill system 14 for an oil service operation performed ona given machine, approximately 10% more “waste oil” is removed from themachine by the fluid evacuation system 12, resulting in lesscross-contamination of the new oil delivered to the machine by the fluidrefill system 14.

FIG. 10 illustrates a control circuit 18 of the mobile fluid transfersystem 10 of FIG. 2 in accordance with at least one aspect of thepresent disclosure. The control circuit 18 includes a processing circuit140, a memory circuit 142 and a wireless or cellular communicationmodule 144. According to various aspects, the control circuit 18 alsoincludes a global positioning system (GPS) module 146. Also, accordingto various aspects, the control circuit also includes the power source26. As shown in FIG. 2, the control circuit 18 is coupled to fluidrefill system 14 and to the sensing system 16. According to variousaspects, the control circuit 18 is also coupled to the fluid evacuationsystem 12, the fluid heating system 20, the purge system 24 and a powersource (e.g., the power source 26 or a power source external to themobile fluid transfer system 10). According to various aspects, when ACpower is coupled to the mobile fluid transfer system 10, the controlcircuit 18 and the heating devices 110, 112 are powered by AC power. Ifno AC power is coupled to the mobile fluid transfer system 10, thecontrol circuit 18 is powered by DC power.

The processing circuit 140 may be, for example, hardwired circuitry,programmable circuitry (e.g., a computer processor including one or moreindividual instruction processing cores, processing unit, processor,microcontroller, microcontroller unit, controller, digital signalprocessor (DSP), programmable logic device (PLD), programmable logicarray (PLA), or field programmable gate array (FPGA)), state machinecircuitry, firmware that stores instructions executed by programmablecircuitry, and any combination thereof. The processing circuit 140 may,collectively or individually, be embodied as circuitry that forms partof a larger system, for example, an integrated circuit (IC), anapplication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a system on-chip (SoC),desktop computers, laptop computers, tablet computers, servers, smartphones, etc. Accordingly, the processing circuit 140 may include, but isnot limited to, electrical circuitry having at least one discreteelectrical circuit, electrical circuitry having at least one integratedcircuit, electrical circuitry having at least one application specificintegrated circuit, electrical circuitry forming a general purposecomputing device configured by a computer program (e.g., a generalpurpose computer configured by a computer program which at leastpartially carries out processes and/or devices described herein, or amicroprocessor configured by a computer program which at least partiallycarries out processes and/or devices described herein), electricalcircuitry forming a memory device (e.g., forms of random access memory),and/or electrical circuitry forming a communications device (e.g., amodem, communications switch, or optical-electrical equipment). Thosehaving skill in the art will recognize that the subject matter describedherein may be implemented in an analog or digital fashion or somecombination thereof.

The memory circuit 142 is coupled to the processing circuit 140 and mayinclude more than one type of memory. For example, according to variousaspects, the memory 142 circuit may include volatile memory andnon-volatile memory. The volatile memory can include random accessmemory (RAM), which can act as external cache memory. According tovarious aspects, the random access memory can be static random accessmemory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamicrandom access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamicrandom access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic randomaccess memory (ESDRAM), Synchlink dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM),direct Rambus random access memory (DRRAM) and the like. Thenon-volatile memory can include read-only memory (ROM), programmableread-only memory (PROM), electrically programmable read-only memory,electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flashmemory and the like. According to various aspects, the memory circuit142 can also include removable/non-removable, volatile/non-volatilestorage media, such as for example disk storage. The disk storage caninclude, but is not limited to, devices like a magnetic disk drive, afloppy disk drive, a tape drive, a Jaz drive, a Zip drive, a LS-60drive, a flash memory card, or a memory stick. In addition, the diskstorage can include storage media separately or in combination withother storage media including, but not limited to, an optical disc drivesuch as a compact disc ROM device (CD-ROM), a compact disc recordabledrive (CD-R Drive), a compact disc rewritable drive (CD-RW Drive), adigital versatile disc ROM drive (DVD-ROM) and the like.

The wireless communication module 144 is configured to enablecommunication between the mobile fluid transfer system 10 and otherdevices/systems via a network 152 (See FIG. 11), where thecommunications between the wireless communications module 144 and thenetwork 152 are wireless communications. With this capability, themobile fluid transfer system 10 is able to receiveinformation/instructions/commands from devices which are proximate tothe mobile fluid transfer system 10, as well as communicate informationassociated with the mobile fluid transfer system 10 to systems which areremote from the mobile fluid transfer system 10. For example, accordingto various aspects, as explained in more detail hereinbelow, the mobilefluid transfer system 10 can be controlled by a wireless controller, andcan automatically send reports to one or more remote computing systems.

The wireless communication module 144 can employ any suitable wirelesscommunication technology. For example, according to various aspects, thewireless communication module 144 can employ, Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Thread,ZigBee, and the like. Similarly, the wireless communication module 144can employ any one of a number of wireless communication standards orprotocols, including but not limited to Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11 family),WPA2, WPA3, WiMAX (IEEE 802.16 family), IEEE 802.20, long-term evolution(LTE), and Ev-DO, HSPA+, HSDPA+, HSUPA+, EDGE, GSM, GPRS, CDMA, TDMA,DECT, and Ethernet derivatives thereof, as well as any other wirelessprotocols that are designated as 3G, 4G, 5G, and beyond.

According to various aspects, the GPS module 146 is configured toreceive information communicated from a plurality of GPS satellitesand/or ground GPS stations, and utilize the information to determine itslocation, and by extension, the location of the mobile fluid transfersystem 10. The location information can be stored in the memory circuit142 and communicated to any device, computing system and the like whichis connected to the network 152.

In general, as described in more detail hereinbelow, the control circuit18 is configured to control the operation of the mobile fluid transfersystem 10, receive information/instructions/commands from devices and/orsystems which are external to the mobile fluid transfer system 10, andcommunicate information to devices and/or systems which are external tothe mobile fluid transfer system 10. Such devices may include, forexample, a wireless controller.

According to various aspects, the control circuit 18 is configured toreceive a signal output by the first sensing device 90, temporarilystore the received signal in the memory circuit 142, and utilize thestored signal to determine the amount of fluid in the fluid storagecontainer 30. For example, according to various aspects, the fluidstorage container 30 is rectangular shaped, having a length of 4 feet, awidth of 2 feet and a height of 3 feet, and the control circuit 18 ispre-programmed to know these dimensions. Thus, the control circuit 18can easily calculate, or be pre-programmed to know, that thecross-sectional area of the fluid storage container 30 is 8 square feet.Therefore, once the height of the fluid (e.g., a distance from the floorof the fluid storage container 30 to the top of the waste oil) isdetermined, the control circuit 18 can determine the amount (or volume)of the fluid in the fluid storage container 30. The control circuit candetermine the amount in gallons, quarts, liters and the like. When asignal (e.g., an ultrasound pulse, a pulse of light, a microwave, etc.)travels from the sensing device 90 to the “top” of the waste oil andback to the sensing device 90, the sensing device 90 is configured tomeasure the time of travel and output a signal indicative of themeasured time of travel to the control circuit 18. The control circuit18 can utilize the signal from the first sensing device 90 to determinea distance between the top of the waste oil and the top of the fluidstorage container 30 and by extension, the height of the waste oil fromthe floor of the storage to the top of the waste oil. The controlcircuit 18 may then simply calculate the amount of fluid in the fluidstorage container 30 by multiplying the cross-sectional area of thefluid storage container 30 (8 square feet) by the determined height ofthe fluid in the fluid storage container 30. Alternatively, the controlcircuit 18 can also just simply multiply the known length (4 feet) bythe known width (2 feet) by the determined height. The above-describedcalculations, or like calculations, can be performed to determine anamount of fluid in the fluid storage container in real time (or innear-real time), and can be performed any number of times. According toother aspects, the control circuit 18 can determine the amount of fluid(e.g., waste oil) in the fluid storage container 30 using themethodology described with reference to FIG. 6A.

Similarly, according to various aspects, the control circuit 18 is alsoconfigured to receive a signal output by the second sensing device 92,temporarily store the received signal in the memory circuit 142, andutilize the stored signal to determine the amount of fluid in the fluidstorage container 50 in the same manner as described above.

According to various aspects, the control circuit 18 is furtherconfigured to receive signals output by the first and second sensingdevices 90, 92, temporarily store the received signals in the memorycircuit 142, and utilize the stored signals to determine whether thelevel of the either of the fluids in the fluid storage containers 30, 50have reached respective predetermined thresholds. In the context of thefluid storage container 30, the predetermined threshold can represent alevel indicating that the waste oil is getting close to filling thefluid storage container 30, and it is time to stop receiving waste oil.The waste oil can subsequently be removed from the fluid storagecontainer 30. For example, according to various aspects, thepredetermined threshold for the waste oil may be set as an amount (e.g.,a certain number of gallons), a height of the fluid (e.g., 2 feet, 8inches), a percentage of the overall volume of the fluid storagecontainer 30 (e.g., 90% of 24 cubic feet), a percentage of the overallheight of the fluid storage container 30 (e.g., 90% of 3 feet) and thelike. Similarly, in the context of the fluid storage container 50, thepredetermined threshold can represent a level indicating that the newoil in the fluid storage container 50 is getting close be being empty,and it is time to stop supplying the new oil. Additional new oil cansubsequently be added to refill the fluid storage container 50. Forexample, according to various aspects, the predetermined threshold forthe new oil may be set as an amount (e.g., a certain number of gallons),a height of the fluid (e.g., 4 inches), a percentage of the overallvolume of the fluid storage container 50 (e.g., 10% of 24 cubic feet), apercentage of the overall height of the fluid storage container 50(e.g., 10% of 3 feet) and the like.

By knowing the amounts of the fluids in the fluid storage containers 30,50, the height of the fluids in the fluid storage containers 30, 50, andthe empty or unused height of the fluid storage containers 30, 50 fromthe above-described methods, the control circuit 18 can readilydetermine whether or not either of the respective predeterminedthresholds has been reached based on the signals received from the firstand second sensing devices 90, 92. For instances where the predeterminedthreshold is set in different units (e.g., as a percentage), the controlcircuit 18 is configured to utilize the above described calculations toperform additional straight-forward calculations to determine whether ornot the predetermined threshold has been reached (or exceeded).According to other aspects, the control circuit 18 can determine whetheror not the predetermined threshold has been reached (or exceeded) basedon the signals output by the first and second sensing devices 90, 92 asdescribed with reference to FIG. 6.

According to various aspects, based on the above-described calculationsassociated with the signals from the first and second sensing devices90, 92, the control circuit 18 is further configured tocalculate/determine the following: (1) the amount (e.g. gallons) offluid in the fluid storage container 30 before and after the performanceof each machine service operation (e.g., a fluid evacuation), (2) theamount (e.g., gallons) of fluid pumped into the fluid storage container30 for each machine service operation, (3) the amount (e.g. gallons) offluid in the fluid storage container 30 before and after a removaloperation is performed on the fluid storage container 30, (4) the amount(e.g. gallons) of fluid in the fluid storage container 50 before andafter a refill operation is performed on the fluid storage container 50,(5) the amount (e.g. gallons) of fluid in the fluid storage container 50before and after the performance of each machine service operation(e.g., a fluid refill) and (6) the amount (e.g., gallons) of fluidpumped out of the fluid storage container 50 for each machine serviceoperation. Of course, similar calculations/determinations can be madefor associated milestones such as, for example, fluid levels at thestart of work day, fluid levels upon arrival and exit of each differentjobsite, fluid levels at end of the day, and the like. All of the aboveinformation can be stored in the memory circuit 142 and communicated toany device, computing system and the like which is connected to thenetwork 152.

According to various aspects, the control circuit 18 is configured toreceive a signal output by the third sensing device 94, temporarilystore the received signal in the memory circuit 142, and utilize thestored signal to determine whether a level of the fluid in the fluidstorage container 30 has reached (or exceeded) a predeterminedthreshold. In the context of the fluid storage container 30, thepredetermined threshold can represent a level indicating that the wasteoil is getting close to filling the fluid storage container 30, and itis time to stop receiving waste oil. For example, according to variousaspects, the third sensing device 94 is positioned based on thepredetermined threshold. If the fluid level is below the positionmeasured by the third sensing device 94, the third sensing device 94outputs a first signal indicative of the fluid level not having reachedthe predetermined threshold. However, if the fluid level reaches theposition measured by the third sensing device 94, the third sensingdevice 94 outputs a second signal indicative of the fluid level havingreached the predetermined threshold. When the control circuit 18processes the first signal, the control circuit 18 determines the levelof fluid in the storage container 30 has not reached the predeterminedthreshold and does not take any action. However, when the controlcircuit 18 processes the second signal, the control circuit 18determines the level of fluid in the storage container 30 has reachedthe predetermined threshold. Responsive thereto, the control circuit 18may take further action such as, for example, disconnecting electricalpower from a pump associated with the fluid evacuation system 12,closing off the shut-off valve 34, initiating an audible alarm,initiating a visual alarm and/or communicating a notification to one ormore devices, computing systems and the like which are connected to thenetwork 152.

Similarly, according to various aspects, the control circuit 18 is alsoconfigured to receive a signal output by the fourth sensing device 96,temporarily store the received signal in the memory circuit 142, andutilize the stored signal to determine whether a level of the fluid inthe fluid storage container 50 has reached (or exceeded) a predeterminedthreshold. In the context of the fluid storage container 50, thepredetermined threshold can represent a level indicating that the newoil in the fluid storage container 50 is getting close be being empty,and it is time to stop supplying the new oil. For example, according tovarious aspects, the fourth sensing device 96 is positioned based on thepredetermined threshold. If the fluid level is above the positionmeasured by the fourth sensing device 96, the fourth sensing device 96outputs a first signal indicative of the fluid level not having droppeddown to the predetermined threshold. However, if the fluid level reachesor drops below the position measured by the fourth sensing device 96,the fourth sensing device 96 outputs a second signal indicative of thefluid level having reached or dropped below the predetermined threshold.When the control circuit 18 processes the first signal, the controlcircuit 18 determines the level of fluid in the storage container 30 hasnot dropped down to the predetermined threshold and does not take anyaction. However, when the control circuit 18 processes the secondsignal, the control circuit 18 determines the level of fluid in thestorage container 30 has reached or dropped below the predeterminedthreshold. Responsive thereto, the control circuit 18 may take furtheraction such as, for example, disconnecting electrical power from thepump 58 of the fluid refill system 14, closing off the shut-off valve54, initiating an audible alarm, initiating a visual alarm and/orcommunicating a notification to one or more devices, computing systemsand the like which are connected to the network 152. All of the aboveinformation can be stored in the memory circuit 142 and communicated toany device, computing system and the like which is connected to thenetwork 152.

In certain aspects, the above-described determination made by thecontrol circuit 18 based on signals received from the third and fourthsensing devices 94, 96 can provide redundancy to the predeterminedthreshold determinations made by the control circuit 18 based on signalsreceived from the first and second sensing devices 90, 92.

According to various aspects, the control circuit 18 is configured toreceive a signal output by the fifth sensing device 98, temporarilystore the received signal in the memory circuit 142, and utilize thestored signal to determine whether the mobile fluid storage system 10and/or the fluid storage containers 30, 50 are oriented in positionother than an upright position. For example, according to variousaspects, the fifth sensing device 98 is configured to output a signalindicative of the orientation of the mobile fluid storage system 10and/or the fluid storage containers 30, 50. If the mobile fluid storagesystem 10 and/or the fluid storage containers 30, 50 are oriented in theupright position, the fifth sensing device 98 outputs a first signalindicative of the mobile fluid storage system 10 and/or the fluidstorage containers 30, 50 being in the upright position. However, if themobile fluid storage system 10 and/or the fluid storage containers 30,50 are oriented in a position other than the upright position, the fifthsensing device 98 outputs a second signal indicative of the mobile fluidstorage system 10 and/or the fluid storage containers 30, 50 being in aposition other than the upright position. Stated differently, the secondsignal is indicative of a rollover condition. When the control circuit18 processes the first signal, the control circuit 18 determines themobile fluid storage system 10 and/or the fluid storage containers 30,50 are in the upright position (they have not rolled over) and does nottake any action. However, when the control circuit 18 processes thesecond signal, the control circuit 18 determines the mobile fluidstorage system 10 and/or the fluid storage containers 30, 50 are in notin the normal upright position (they have rolled over, either onto theirside or upside down). Responsive thereto, the control circuit 18 maytake further action such as, for example, disconnecting electrical powerfrom a pump associated with the fluid evacuation system 12,disconnecting electrical power from the pump 58 of the fluid refillsystem 14, closing off the shut-off valve 34, closing off the shut-offvalve 54, initiating an audible alarm, initiating a visual alarm and/orcommunicating a notification to one or more devices, computing systemsand the like which are connected to the network 152. All of the aboveinformation can be stored in the memory circuit 142 and communicated toany device, computing system and the like which is connected to thenetwork 152.

According to various aspects, the control circuit 18 is configured toreceive a signal output by the sixth sensing device 100, temporarilystore the received signal in the memory circuit 142, and utilize thestored signal to determine whether fluid is present proximate a floor ofthe fluid containment system 22 and external to the fluid storagecontainers 30, 50. For example, according to various aspects, the sixthsensing device 100 is configured to output a first signal indicative ofthe lack of a presence of fluid proximate the floor of the fluidcontainment system 22 and external to the fluid storage containers 30,50, and is also configured to output a second signal indicative of thepresence of fluid proximate the floor of the fluid containment system 22and external to the fluid storage containers 30, 50. The presence offluid is indicative of a leak or a spill. Thus, the second signal isindicative of a spill or leak having occurred. If the sixth sensingdevice 100 does not sense the presence of fluid proximate the floor ofthe fluid containment system 22 and external to the fluid storagecontainers 30, 50, the sixth sensing device 100 outputs the firstsignal. However, if the sixth sensing device 100 senses the presence offluid proximate the floor of the fluid containment system 22 andexternal to the fluid storage containers 30, 50, the sixth sensingdevice 100 outputs the second signal. When the control circuit 18processes the first signal, the control circuit 18 determines no fluidhas leaked or spilled from the fluid storage containers 30, 50 and/orany piping positioned within the fluid containment system 22, and thecontrol circuit 18 does not take any action in response thereto.However, when the control circuit 18 processes the second signal, thecontrol circuit 18 determines fluid has leaked or spilled from the fluidstorage containers 30, 50 and/or any piping positioned within the fluidcontainment system 22. Responsive thereto, the control circuit 18 maytake further action such as, for example, disconnecting electrical powerfrom a pump associated with the fluid evacuation system 12,disconnecting electrical power from the pump 58 of the fluid refillsystem 14, disconnecting electrical power from the heating devices 110,112, closing off the shut-off valve 34, closing off the shut-off valve54, initiating an audible alarm, initiating a visual alarm and/orcommunicating a notification to one or more devices, computing systemsand the like which are connected to the network 152. All of the aboveinformation can be stored in the memory circuit 142 and communicated toany device, computing system and the like which is connected to thenetwork 152.

According to various aspects, the control circuit 18 is configured toreceive a signal output by the seventh sensing device 102, temporarilystore the received signal in the memory circuit 142, and utilize thestored signal to control operation of the heating device 110. Forexample, according to various aspects, the seventh sensing device 102 isconfigured to measure a temperature of the fluid in a given zone of thefluid storage container 30, and output a signal which indicative of themeasured temperature. The heating device 110 is utilized to heat thefluid of a given zone of the fluid storage container 30 to apredetermined temperature. The predetermined temperature may be storedin the memory circuit 142. The control circuit 18 is further configuredto determine the temperature of the fluid based on the output signal ofthe seventh sensing device 102, compare the determined temperature tothe predetermined temperature, and control the heating device 110accordingly. For example, if the measured temperature is the same as orgreater than the predetermined temperature, the control circuit 18operates to disconnect electrical power to the heating device 110,thereby preventing the fluid in the fluid storage container 30 frombeing heated by the heating device 110. However, if the measuredtemperature is less than the predetermined temperature, the controlcircuit 18 operates to connect electrical power to the heating device110, thereby allowing the fluid in the fluid storage container 30 to beheated by the heating device 110. Once the fluid in the fluid storagecontainer 30 is heated to the predetermined temperature, the controlcircuit 18 operates to disconnect electrical power to the heating device110. For safety reasons, the control circuit 18 is configured to verifythe fluid level in the fluid storage container 30 is higher than theheight of the heating element of the heating device 110 in the fluidstorage container 30 before allowing for the electrical power to beconnected to the heating device 110.

Similarly, the control circuit 18 is configured to receive a signaloutput by the eighth sensing device 104, temporarily store the receivedsignal in the memory circuit 142, and utilize the stored signal tocontrol operation of the heating device 112. For example, according tovarious aspects, the eighth sensing device 104 is configured to measurea temperature of the fluid in a given zone of the fluid storagecontainer 50, and output a signal which indicative of the measuredtemperature. The heating device 112 is utilized to heat the fluid of agiven zone of the fluid storage container 50 to a predeterminedtemperature. The predetermined temperature may be stored in the memorycircuit 142. The control circuit 18 is further configured to determinethe temperature of the fluid based on the output signal of the eighthsensing device 104, compare the determined temperature to thepredetermined temperature, and control the heating device 112accordingly. For example, if the measured temperature is the same as orgreater than the predetermined temperature, the control circuit 18operates to disconnect electrical power to the heating device 112,thereby preventing the fluid in the fluid storage container 50 frombeing heated by the heating device 112. However, if the measuredtemperature is the less than the predetermined temperature, the controlcircuit 18 operates to connect electrical power to the heating device112, thereby allowing the fluid in the fluid storage container 50 to beheated by the heating device 112. Once the fluid in the fluid storagecontainer 50 is heated to the predetermined temperature, the controlcircuit 18 operates to disconnect electrical power to the heating device112. For safety reasons, the control circuit 18 is configured to verifythe fluid level in the fluid storage container 50 is higher than theheight of the heating element of the heating device 112 in the fluidstorage container 50 before allowing for the electrical power to beconnected to the heating device 112.

The above-described determinations associated with the heating devices110, 112 may be made any number of times. All of the determinedtemperatures, the respective times the determinations were made, theamount of time the heating devices 110, 112 were energized, etc. can bestored in the memory circuit 142 and communicated to any device,computing system and the like which is connected to the network 152.

According to various aspects, the control circuit 18 is configured toreceive respective signals output by the one or more sensing devices106, temporarily store the received signals in the memory circuit 142,and utilize the stored signals to determine parameters associated withfluid evacuated from a machine. The parameters are associated with aquality/condition of the fluid and can include, for example,degradation, contamination (e.g., fuel, coolant), acidity, watercontent, dilution, antioxidant depletion, metallic content, debris,soot, temperature, viscosity, particle count and the like for oilevacuated from the machine (i.e., waste oil). Thus, the control circuit18 can also be considered to be configured to determine aquality/condition of the waste oil. For example, according to variousaspects, the mobile fluid transfer system 10 can include an oil samplingapparatus which is configured to secure one or more samples of oilevacuated from the machine to allow for real time indications of any ofthe above-listed parameters. According to various aspects, the oilsampling apparatus can be pre-configured to assess for a plurality ofcombinations of parameters, values, elements, and the like associatedwith the evacuated oil.

For example, in various aspects, as fluid is evacuated from the earthmoving machine and is being routed to the fluid storage container 30,the fluid may be captured and isolated, either inline (e.g., from thehosing 36) or via a separate branch line coupled to the hosing 36. Theone or more sensing devices 106 measure various properties of thecaptured/isolated fluid (e.g., dielectric constant, inductivecharacteristics, optical properties, spectrographic characteristics,magnetic properties, etc.) and output signals indicative of themeasurements. The control circuit 18 subsequently utilizes the outputsignals of the one or more sensing devices 106 to determine theparameters associated with the fluid. The control system 18 may alsothen utilize the determined parameters to analyze a condition/quality ofthe fluid. All of the determined parameters, the respective times thedeterminations were made, the determined quality/condition of the fluid,etc. can be stored in the memory circuit 142 and communicated to anydevice, computing system and the like which is connected to the network152.

According to various aspects, the control circuit 18 is configured tocontrol the various pumps and valves of the mobile fluid transfer system10. The pumps run on DC power and the valves are activated with DCpower. The control circuit 18 provides against overfilling the fluidstorage containers 30, 50 by allowing the fluid storage containers 30,50 to be filled if the following two conditions are met. First, thereare no leaks as indicated by sixth sensing device 100. Second, the fluidstorage containers 30, 50 are not full as indicated, for example, by thefirst and second sensing devices 90, 92. As described in more detailhereinbelow, the control circuit 18 can operate in an automatic mode ora manual mode.

In the automatic mode, the wireless communication module 144 isconfigured to connect the wireless controller to an IP address of themobile fluid transfer system 10 via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or the like. When aperson/service technician operates the wireless controller tocommunicate a fluid dispense request in units of gallons, quarts, litersand the like, the control circuit 18 receives the fluid dispense requestand performs several checks/actions responsive thereto. First, thecontrol circuit 18 determines whether the requested fluid amount isavailable. The control circuit 18 may utilize the output signals of thefirst and second sensing devices 90, 92 to make this determination. Ifthe control circuit 18 determines the requested amount is not available,the control circuit 18 may record a log fault and communicate a faultsignal to the wireless controller. Second, the control circuit 18determines whether any leaks are present in the fluid refill system 14.The control circuit 18 may utilize the output signal of the sixthsensing device 100 to make this determination. If the control circuit 18determines a leak has occurred, the control circuit 18 may record a logfault and communicate a fault signal to the wireless controller. Third,if the requested fluid amount is available and there are no leaks, thecontrol circuit 18 may open the shutoff valve 54 if it isn't alreadyopen and activate the pump 58 to allow fluid to be pumped from the fluidstorage container 50 to the earth moving machine. Fourth, the controlcircuit 18 monitors the flow of the fluid from the fluid storagecontainer 50, and automatically closes the valve 58 and/or de-energizesthe pump 58 once the requested fluid amount has been dispensed from thefluid storage container 50. The control circuit 18 may determine therequested fluid amount has been dispensed based on the output signals ofthe first and second sensing devices 90, 92. According to variousaspects, the flow rate of the fluid may be controlled based on thetemperature of the fluid, and the control circuit 18 can shut down thedispensing process if the flow rate is below a predetermined threshold.Fifth, the control circuit 18 records the volume of oil dispensed fromthe fluid storage container 50 and may also may also operate to capturedata such as, for example, data regarding the evacuation event, thelocation of the event, timestamp information, fluid levels associatedwith the event and as well as a service set identifier (SSID) associatedwith a network coupled to the wireless device and the wirelesscommunication module 144 of the mobile fluid transfer system 10.

With respect to the manual mode, when a person/service technician jogsor toggles a control button of the wireless controller, the controlcircuit 18 receives a jog/toggle request from the wireless controller,and the control circuit 18 jogs or toggles from the automatic mode tothe manual mode. In the manual mode, as long as the control circuit 18determines the requested fluid amount is available and no leaks arepresent, the fluid will be delivered from the fluid storage container 50as long as the control button of the wireless controller is held down.If the control circuit 18 determines the requested fluid amount is notavailable or a leak is present, the control circuit 18 may record a logfault (or log faults) and communicate a fault signal (or fault signals)to the wireless controller.

FIG. 11 illustrates a management system 150, in accordance with at leastone aspect of the present disclosure. The management system 150 includesthe mobile fluid transfer system 10, a network 152, a wirelesscontroller 154 and one or more computing systems 156. The mobile fluidtransfer system 10 is communicably connected with the wirelesscontroller 154 and the one or more computing systems 156 via the network152. The network 152 may include any type of delivery system including,but not limited to, a local area network (e.g., Ethernet), a wide areanetwork (e.g. the Internet and/or World Wide Web), a telephone network(e.g., analog, digital, wired, wireless, PSTN, ISDN, GSM, GPRS, and/orxDSL), a packet-switched network, a radio network, a television network,a cable network, a satellite network, and/or any other wired or wirelesscommunications network configured to carry data. The network 152 mayinclude elements, such as, for example, intermediate nodes, proxyservers, routers, switches, and adapters configured to direct and/ordeliver data. In general, the mobile fluid transfer system 10 system 10is configured to communicate with the wireless controller 154 and theone or more computing systems 156 via the network 14 using variouscommunication protocols (e.g., HTTP, TCP/IP, TelNet, UDP, WAP, WebSockets, WiFi, Bluetooth) and/or to operate within or in concert withone or more other communications systems. As the mobile fluid transfersystem 10 can connect to the Internet, it will be appreciated that themobile fluid transfer system 10 can have a distinct Internet Protocoladdress (IP address) which allows for host or network interfaceidentification and location addressing.

The wireless controller 154 is configured to manage the operation of themobile fluid transfer system 10, and may be any suitable type ofhandheld device such as, for example, a smartphone, a tablet, a laptopcomputing device and the like which can wirelessly communicate with themobile fluid transfer system 10. According to various aspects, thewireless controller 154 is also configured to be connected directly tothe control circuit 18 via a wired connection.

The one or more computing systems 156 can include, for example, acomputing system of an owner of the mobile fluid transfer system 10, acomputing system of a service provider associated with the mobile fluidtransfer system 10, a computing system associated with an owner of themachine being serviced by the mobile fluid transfer system 10, etc., andeach of these computing systems can be at locations which are remotefrom the machine being serviced.

According to various aspects, at least one of the one or more computingsystems 156 can function as an inventory management system and/or a workorder system. For example, as described above, the mobile fluid transfersystem 10 can send information regarding fluid levels (as well as a lotof other information such as, for example, valve positions, fluidvalues, pump status, containment status, fluid temp, temperatures ofheating elements, faults, etc.) to the computing system 156 so that theamount of fluid evacuated and the amount of fluid dispensed can betracked in real-time or in near-real time. Stated differently, thecomputing system 156 knows the inventory of the fluids in the fluidstorage containers 30, 50 at all times. According to various aspects,the information can be communicated to and from the wireless controller154 once per second. Based on the information received by the computingsystem 156, and knowing the location of the mobile fluid transfer system10, the computing system 156 can be configured to direct the mobilefluid transfer system 10 to the nearest location where the fluid/wasteoil in the fluid storage container 30 can be safely and properlydisposed and/or where additional fluid/new oil can be safely andproperly added to the fluid storage tank 50. Additionally, based on allof the information sent by the mobile fluid transfer system 10 to thecomputing system 156, the computing system 156 can communicateinformation to a device associated with a driver of the vehicle which istransporting the mobile fluid transfer system 10. Such information caninclude, for example, a notification the fluid storage container 30should be emptied, a notification the fluid storage container 50 shouldbe refilled, a name, address, contact information and directions to theclosest service provider where the fluid storage containers 30, 50 canbe safely and properly emptied/filled (including how many miles away theservice provider is from the current location of the mobile fluidtransfer system 10), the price per gallon charged by the service, andthe like.

According to various aspects, the wireless communication module 154 isconfigured to send data to computing system 156 via network 152 whenproximity to a recognized beacon exceeds a pre-determined threshold.Beacons, which are small, wireless transmitters that use low-energyBluetooth technology to send signals to other smart devices nearby, maybe positioned at service locations visited by the mobile fluid transfersystem 10, at evacuation/refill service centers visited by the mobilefluid transfer system 10, and at home bases of the mobile fluid transfersystems 10. Each beacon can be pre-configured with a unique identifier,the sensing of the beacon by the mobile fluid transfer system 10 canoccur both when the mobile fluid transfer system 10 moves into and outof the beacon area. The sensing of the beacon triggers the controlcircuit 18 to switch to an internet accessible network connection. Oncethe internet accessible network connection is established, the mobilefluid transfer system 10 can send data to the computing system 156 viathe wireless controller 154 and the network 152. The data sent may bedata which has been collected and recorded since the last data send, andsuch data may include, for example, respective fluid levels of the fluidstorage containers 30, 50, the location (e.g., latitude and longitude)where the service was performed, the date and time the service wasperformed, the amount of fluid evacuated from the machine and deliveredinto the fluid storage container 30, the amount of fluid delivered tothe machine from the fluid storage container 50 and the like. Accordingto other aspects, a cellular signal can be utilized at specific times toallow for the mobile fluid transfer system 10 to send the data to thecomputing system 156 via the network 152. Once the mobile fluid transfersystem 10 is at a bulk oil center, the mobile fluid transfer system 10can offload waste oil, upload new oil, and record both volumes, recordevent information, time information, date information, locationinformation, technician information and the like for complete inventorycontrol of fluids. According to various aspects, the mobile fluidtransfer system 10 can connect to a computing system of a branch network(e.g., a branch network of the bulk oil center), in order to enable,regulate, control and/or capture and record fluid changes. Consumptionsand volumes may be determined by measured changes in fluid levels fromthe start to the stop of a refill and/or evacuate event.

For organizations or companies which employ a plurality of mobile fluidtransfer systems 10, each mobile fluid transfer system 10 can becommunicating fluid levels in its fluid storage containers 30, 50, hasrecorded the amount of fluid delivered from the fluid storage container50 to each serviced machine, and has recorded the amount of fluidevacuated from each serviced machine and delivered to the fluid storagecontainer 30, the organization or company has nearly perfect visibilityto assess, monitor, verify fluid inventories across all of its mobilefluid transfer systems 10. This can be done for branch locations as wellas for facility-based locations.

According to various aspects, the computing system 156 can generate awork order for servicing any number of machines, and communicate thework order to a device associated with a driver of the vehicle which istransporting the mobile fluid transfer system 10. When generating thework order, the computing system 156 can take into account informationsuch as, for example, the capacity of the fluid storage container 30,the capacity of the fluid storage container 50, the fluid capacity ofeach machine to be serviced (so as to know how much fluid will beevacuated from the machine into the fluid storage container 30 and howmuch fluid will be removed from the fluid storage container 50 to beadded to the machine), the total gallons needed for all of the machinesto be serviced, etc. For instances where the actual amount of the fluidsin the fluid storage containers 30, 50 varies from the amounts indicatedby the computing system 156, the mobile fluid transfer system 10 can beflagged for an audit and the computing system 156 can generate adiscrepancy report based on the results of the audit.

For instances where the mobile fluid transfer system 10 is integrated toa network, jobs can be dispatched from a central location such that thetechnicians periodically receive work orders via the network. For agiven work order, the work order may note total fluid volumes needed tocomplete the work. The computing system 156 may then compare the totalvolumes of fluids needed to the respective volumes present in the fluidstorage containers 30, 50. If the respective volumes present in thefluid storage containers 30, 50 are sufficient to complete the work, thework order may note this. According to some aspects, if the respectivevolumes present in the fluid storage containers 30, 50 are notsufficient to complete the work, the computing system 156 will notifythe wireless controller 154, or the technician, of the insufficiency.For such instances, the computing system 156 will present a map, orlocations of the ‘nearest’ servicing locations, where the mobile fluidtransfer system 10 can be serviced to offload fluid in the fluid storagecontainer 30 and add new fluids to the fluid storage container 50 so asto be able to complete the work order.

At a given job site, once the control circuit 18 is communicablyconnected to the wireless controller 154, the wireless controller 154may be viewed by the technician to see a representation of the volume offluid in the fluid storage container 50, and the technician may requesta volume of fluid be delivered from the fluid storage container 50 tothe machine to be serviced. Either during or upon completion of theservice, the mobile fluid transfer system 10 can record the GPScoordinates of service event, the gallons of fluid pumped from the fluidstorage container 50, the work order number of the event, the machineserviced, the technician who oversaw the servicing, etc. On completionof the servicing, the changes in the volumes of the fluids in the fluidstorage containers 30, 50 are recorded, and one or more of the followingare logged: the volume of fluid delivered from the fluid storagecontainer 50 to the machine, the time/date of the event, the location byGPS coordinates of the event, the fluids used for the servicing, and thevolume of fluid evacuated from the machine and delivered into the fluidstorage container 30.

According to various aspects, the mobile fluid transfer system 10 andthe wireless controller 154 are integrated with the computing system156. For such aspects, a mobile application such as, for example, theConnexionMobile application may be utilized to link work orders to theamounts of fluids needed, the location of fill stations, inventorycontrol upon entry into and/or exit from bulk stations, work orderconsumption data, and uploads to the computing system 156 whether themobile fluid transfer system 10 is in or out of beacon range.

Although the above description is provided in the context of a singlemobile fluid transfer system 10, it will be appreciated that any numberof mobile fluid transfer systems 10 may be in communication with thecomputing system 156 via the network 152, any number of mobile fluidtransfer systems 10 may be utilized to form a fleet of mobile fluidtransfer systems 10, where the various mobile fluid transfer systems 10can communicate with one another via the network 152 and can cooperateto complete any number of work orders.

Examples

Example 1—A mobile fluid transfer system is provided. The mobile fluidtransfer system comprises a fluid evacuation system comprising a firstfluid storage container, a fluid refill system comprising a second fluidstorage container, a sensing system coupled to the fluid evacuationsystem and the fluid refill system, and a control circuit coupled to thesensing system, the fluid evacuation system and the fluid refill system,wherein the control circuit is configured to (1) determine an amount ofa first fluid in the first fluid storage container based on a firstsignal from the sensing system and (2) determine an amount of a secondfluid in the second fluid storage container based on a second signalfrom the sensing system.

Example 2—The mobile fluid transfer system of Example 1, furthercomprising a power source coupled to the control circuit.

Example 3—The mobile fluid transfer system of Example 2, wherein thepower source is further coupled to the sensing system.

Example 4—The mobile fluid transfer system of Examples 1, 2 or 3,wherein the fluid evacuation system further includes a solenoid valve,wherein the solenoid valve is controlled by the control circuit based ona third signal from the sensing system.

Example 5—The mobile fluid transfer system of Examples 1, 2, 3 or 4,wherein the fluid evacuation system further includes a pump.

Example 6—The mobile fluid transfer system of Examples 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5,wherein the fluid refill system further includes a solenoid valve,wherein the solenoid valve is controlled by the control circuit based ona third signal from the sensing system.

Example 7—The mobile fluid transfer system of Examples 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or6, wherein the fluid refill system further includes a pump, wherein thepump is controlled by the control circuit based on a third signal fromthe sensing system.

Example 8—The mobile fluid transfer system of Examples 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6or 7, further comprising a rollover protection system, wherein therollover protection system is configured to prevent fluid present in thefirst fluid storage container from exiting the first fluid storagecontainer when the mobile fluid transfer system is in a non-uprightposition.

Example 9—The mobile fluid transfer system of Examples 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,7 or 8, wherein the sensing system is wirelessly coupled to at least oneof the following: the fluid evacuation system, the fluid refill system,and the control circuit.

Example 10—The mobile fluid transfer system of Examples 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,6, 7, 8 or 9, wherein the sensing system comprises a first sensingdevice configured to measure a level of a fluid within the first fluidstorage container and a second sensing device configured to measure alevel of a fluid within the second fluid storage container.

Example 11—The mobile fluid transfer system of Example 10, wherein atleast one of the first and second sensing devices comprises one of thefollowing: an ultrasonic device; a laser device, a radar device, amagnetorestrictive device, and a pressure transducer.

Example 12—The mobile fluid transfer system of Examples 10 or 11,wherein the sensing system further comprises at least one of thefollowing: a third sensing device configured to output a signal when alevel of the fluid in the first fluid storage container reaches apredetermined threshold, and a fourth sensing device configured tooutput a signal when a level of the fluid in the second fluid storagecontainer reaches a predetermined threshold.

Example 13—The mobile fluid transfer system of Examples 10 or 11,wherein the sensing system comprises a third sensing device configuredto measure an orientation of the mobile fluid transfer system.

Example 14—The mobile fluid transfer system of Examples 10 or 11,wherein the mobile fluid transfer system further comprises a fluidcontainment system surrounding the first and second fluid storagecontainers, and wherein the sensing system further comprises a thirdsensing device configured to detect a presence of a fluid proximate afloor of the fluid containment system and external to the first andsecond fluid storage containers.

Example 15—The mobile fluid transfer system of Examples 10 or 11,wherein the sensing system further comprises at least one of thefollowing: a third sensing device configured to measure a temperature ofthe fluid in the first fluid storage container, and a fourth sensingdevice configured to measure a temperature of the fluid in the secondfluid storage container.

Example 16—The mobile fluid transfer system of Examples 10, 11, 12, 13,14 or 15, wherein the sensing system further comprises one or moreadditional sensing devices configured to measure a parameter associatedwith fluid transported by the fluid evacuation system.

Example 17—The mobile fluid transfer system of Examples 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 or 16, further comprising a fluidheating system coupled to the control circuit, wherein the fluid heatingsystem comprises a first heating device positioned in the first fluidstorage container and a second heating device positioned in the secondfluid storage container.

Example 18—The mobile fluid transfer system of Examples 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 or 17, further comprising a purgesystem comprising a source of a pressurized purging agent.

Example 19—The mobile fluid transfer system of Example 18, wherein thepurge system is coupled to the control circuit.

Example 20—The mobile fluid transfer system of Examples 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 or 19, wherein thecontrol circuit comprises a processing circuit, a memory circuit coupledto the processing circuit, and a wireless communication module coupledto the processing circuit.

Although the various aspects of the mobile fluid transfer system 10 havebeen described herein in connection with certain disclosed aspects, manymodifications and variations to those aspects may be implemented. Also,where materials are disclosed for certain components, other materialsmay be used. Furthermore, according to various aspects, a singlecomponent may be replaced by multiple components, and multiplecomponents may be replaced by a single component, to perform a givenfunction or functions. The foregoing description and the appended claimsare intended to cover all such modifications and variations as fallingwithin the scope of the disclosed aspects.

While this invention has been described as having exemplary designs, thedescribed invention may be further modified within the spirit and scopeof the disclosure. This application is therefore intended to cover anyvariations, uses, or adaptations of the invention using its generalprinciples. For example, although the invention was described in thecontext of a mobile fluid transfer system, the general principles of theinvention are equally applicable to other types of fluid transfersystems.

Any patent, patent application, publication, or other disclosurematerial, in whole or in part, that is said to be incorporated byreference herein is incorporated herein only to the extent that theincorporated materials does not conflict with existing definitions,statements, or other disclosure material set forth in this disclosure.As such, and to the extent necessary, the disclosure as explicitly setforth herein supersedes any conflicting material incorporated herein byreference. Any material, or portion thereof, that is said to beincorporated by reference herein, but which conflicts with existingdefinitions, statements, or other disclosure material set forth hereinwill only be incorporated to the extent that no conflict arises betweenthat incorporated material and the existing disclosure material.

What is claimed is:
 1. A mobile fluid transfer system, comprising: afluid evacuation system comprising a first fluid storage container; afluid refill system comprising a second fluid storage container; asensing system coupled to the fluid evacuation system and the fluidrefill system; and a control circuit coupled to the sensing system, thefluid evacuation system and the fluid refill system, wherein the controlcircuit is configured to: determine an amount of a first fluid in thefirst fluid storage container based on a first signal from the sensingsystem; and determine an amount of a second fluid in the second fluidstorage container based on a second signal from the sensing system. 2.The mobile fluid transfer system of claim 1, further comprising a powersource coupled to the control circuit.
 3. The mobile fluid transfersystem of claim 2, wherein the power source is further coupled to thesensing system.
 4. The mobile fluid transfer system of claim 1, whereinthe fluid evacuation system further includes a solenoid valve, whereinthe solenoid valve is controlled by the control circuit based on a thirdsignal from the sensing system.
 5. The mobile fluid transfer system ofclaim 1, wherein the fluid evacuation system further includes a pump. 6.The mobile fluid transfer system of claim 1, wherein the fluid refillsystem further includes a solenoid valve, wherein the solenoid valve iscontrolled by the control circuit based on a third signal from thesensing system.
 7. The mobile fluid transfer system of claim 1, whereinthe fluid refill system further includes a pump, wherein the pump iscontrolled by the control circuit based on a third signal from thesensing system.
 8. The mobile fluid transfer system of claim 1, furthercomprising a rollover protection system, wherein the rollover protectionsystem is configured to prevent fluid present in the first fluid storagecontainer from exiting the first fluid storage container when the mobilefluid transfer system is in a non-upright position.
 9. The mobile fluidtransfer system of claim 1, wherein the sensing system is wirelesslycoupled to at least one of the following: the fluid evacuation system;the fluid refill system; and the control circuit.
 10. The mobile fluidtransfer system of claim 1, wherein the sensing system comprises: afirst sensing device configured to measure a level of a fluid within thefirst fluid storage container; and a second sensing device configured tomeasure a level of a fluid within the second fluid storage container.11. The mobile fluid transfer system of claim 10, wherein at least oneof the first and second sensing devices comprises one of the following:an ultrasonic device; a laser device; a radar device; amagnetorestrictive device; and a pressure transducer.
 12. The mobilefluid transfer system of claim 10, wherein the sensing system furthercomprises at least one of the following: a third sensing deviceconfigured to output a signal when a level of the fluid in the firstfluid storage container reaches a predetermined threshold; and a fourthsensing device configured to output a signal when a level of the fluidin the second fluid storage container reaches a predetermined threshold.13. The mobile fluid transfer system of claim 10, wherein the sensingsystem comprises a third sensing device configured to measure anorientation of the mobile fluid transfer system.
 14. The mobile fluidtransfer system of claim 10, wherein: the mobile fluid transfer systemfurther comprises a fluid containment system surrounding the first andsecond fluid storage containers; and the sensing system furthercomprises a third sensing device configured to detect a presence of afluid proximate a floor of the fluid containment system and external tothe first and second fluid storage containers.
 15. The mobile fluidtransfer system of claim 10, wherein the sensing system furthercomprises at least one of the following: a third sensing deviceconfigured to measure a temperature of the fluid in the first fluidstorage container; and a fourth sensing device configured to measure atemperature of the fluid in the second fluid storage container.
 16. Themobile fluid transfer system of claim 10, wherein the sensing systemfurther comprises one or more additional sensing devices configured tomeasure a parameter associated with fluid transported by the fluidevacuation system.
 17. The mobile fluid transfer system of claim 1,further comprising a fluid heating system coupled to the controlcircuit, wherein the fluid heating system comprises: a first heatingdevice positioned in the first fluid storage container; and a secondheating device positioned in the second fluid storage container.
 18. Themobile fluid transfer system of claim 1, further comprising a purgesystem comprising a source of a pressurized purging agent.
 19. Themobile fluid transfer system of claim 18, wherein the purge system iscoupled to the control circuit.
 20. The mobile fluid transfer system ofclaim 1, wherein the control circuit comprises: a processing circuit; amemory circuit coupled to the processing circuit; and a wirelesscommunication module coupled to the processing circuit.